My 2000 BMW M5 was in possession of FlimFlam Speed from March 2021 to November 2022. There was a big scope of work totaling just over $15,000.00 which was paid for promptly across three payments at each appropriate time of payment (stages of work). The car was needing quite a bit of overhaul and maintenance. The entire scope of project revolved around taking a car that needed some work and making it 100% road legal and state inspected at pickup. This was acknowledged and agreed upon by both parties at the onset of the project.
The Good:
The inspection of the vehicle, along with the estimates and attention to detail of documentation of work (dropbox photos) appears to be very good. The mechanical improvements to the car seemed to be apparent and the car felt great on the return drive. The engine, transmission, braking, cooling, suspension all seemed to work great. I didn't witness the work myself and I'm not an expert, but I would say the mechanical dynamics of the vehicle feels like it was probably above par and very competent.
The Bad:
The communication, from my perspective, was very poor. Months would go by without any sort of update. There would be ignored texts and emails. Phone calls would go to a full voicemail box. As a paying customer with an incomplete project I felt like I was on an island with no recourse and no way to help myself get out of the situation I was in. I was completely at the mercy of whether someone cared enough to reach out to me. It was a horrible position to be in and I'm grateful it's over. There were lots of reasons the car wasn't complete, which was not limited to: VIR, Pikes Peak, SEMA, Racing Season, Bimmerworld, illness etc. I can applaud an entrepreneurial spirit, but I felt that it severely limited the probability of met promises at FlimFlam Speed. I ALWAYS felt like I was on the backburner and never once felt like I was appreciated as a customer. I say this knowing that I carried myself in the complete opposite manner - I was always respectful, kind, understanding and tried to have some grace in the moments of frustrations. I paid all of my bills up when asked and continued to have faith in a situation that did not bode well for me. I never once inquired if the work could be done for cheaper as I felt the price was fair for the estimated work if I had a car I could drive as agreed upon at the onset of the project. The mechanical side appears to be excellent, but the office management appears to be extremely poor in my opinion.
The REALLY Bad:
After 18 months and $15,000.00, the same check engine lights that were on when I dropped the car off are still on. This includes SES, ABS, Brake, Airbag and Traction Control. I now have an oil temperature issue that was not on the car when I dropped it off. At one point, I inquired if the car was just "sitting outside" I was told through correspondence that the car was moved inside and out off and on and driven a couple times. I was told there was one trip that was around 10 miles (this was all to work on the headlight issue at a BMW dealer). Well - I dropped the car off with 112,258 miles and picked it up with 112,263 miles so let's do the math. I saw numerous stories on Instagram where my car was in the background of the parking lot over the course of the time it was at the shop. I also saw the vehicle sitting in the background of a couple of videos of the East Coast Mustang Tour on YouTube, which had a meet-up in the parking lot of this garage. I now have to take this car to someone else entirely to figure out the dash lights (which were supposed to be fixed) and the headlight issue that took 11 months only to be unsolved. I really felt that once I wasn't making money for this shop that I became a very low priority. That's my personal feelings but I'm entitled to them. The simple fact that I didn't hear back for months after multiple follow-ups and then I when I get so sick of the situation, I ask to pick up the car, I then get a reply the next day that that would be fine tells me a lot.
I've followed up with Kevin to tell him I'm not satisfied with his lack of fixing the issues. He told me he would be willing to take another look at the car (knowing I have moved out of state). With the knowledge that he took 18 months with the car the first time and I left with some of the same issues I arrived with, why would I take it back to sit for another 18 months? I'm sorry but the confidence just is not there. I asked Kevin for a partial refund on the work not completed but I was ignored with no response. read more